Camp Navajo

Camp Navajo was originally established as Navajo Ordnance Depot in 1942. Total construction of the facility was completed in less than one year and included, 800 ammunition storage igloos, 50 administrative buildings, 227 miles of road, 38 miles of railroad track and completed utility distribution and collection systems. The cost of construction in 1942 dollars was $19 million. The installation has been in continuous operation since 1942, to include the period from 1982 to present date, when it has been under the operational control of the Arizona National Guard. The original mission was the storage of ammunition in support of the Pacific Theater of operations during the Second World War. Changes in status and mission have resulted in the name of the installation evolving from Navajo Ordnance Depot to Navajo Army Depot in 1965, Navajo Depot Activity in 1982, and finally in 1993, Camp Navajo. In 1993, the DoD moved the U.S. Army federal ammunition mission at Navajo Depot Activity to Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plan in Nevada and transferred the installation to the Arizona National Guard (AZNG). The AZNG was given a license to operate the facility as a National Guard training site and a National Guard Bureau approved concept plan allowed for the use of idle or underutilized storage capacity to generate revenues and support the installation's operation. In 2002, the Arizona Revised Statute that limited Camp Navajo's ability to do business with the commercial and civilian sectors was amended, and the restriction for Camp Navajo to only accept federal funds was lifted. As a result, we have now broadened our customer base to include civilian and commercial customers to augment and compliment our federal customers. Current initiatives that are being pursued by Camp Navajo, the Arizona National Guard and National Guard Bureau are development of up to 800 acres for use as an industrial park under the Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) concept and replacement of the 65 year old water distribution system and replacement of the electrical distribution system. Other long-term possibilities that are being considered through the Camp Navajo strategic planning process are expansion of storage missions for the US Air Force and the US Navy large rocket motor programs.